The Importance of Meditation and Retreat

At the close of my last session, my acupuncturist asked if I had fallen asleep on the table – which can happen if the treatment really relaxes you.  I said no, but I did have a lot more ideas!  This, actually, has been a side-effect during many of my treatments.  As I sink down into a very relaxed state, letting go of all that has been going on in my day, all sorts of interesting and creative ideas end up popping into my head – some work related and some on the personal projects side.  I think this is because often my treatment is very like meditation for me.

Similarly, I have experienced something like this at times during a Yin Yoga practice – especially if I do the practice at the end of the day.  There is something about going through an experience where you are focused on letting all the daily chatter, the crazy stuff bugging you, the traffic of the “monkey mind” fall away and become distant , that then allows all the other thoughts, the more constructive and creative ones, pop to the surface like a cork.  If you have a problem you are having trouble solving and are really stressed, doing a gentle yoga practice, mediating, or doing meditative actions, like swimming, walking, rowing, etc., can help clear out the chaos and allow the solution to come forth.

Sometimes, however, this isn’t enough.  If you have been going through a really hectic and stressful time, whether as a result of work or personal issues, you can reach a state of toxicity.  All of that negative energy builds up till it feels like it is embedded in your tissue.  When things get that bad, meditation or meditative practice is not enough.  At that point, you really need to practice retreat.

It helps in doing a retreat to get yourself to a place that helps you cut off from all the distractions in your life and really focus on clearing and cleansing yourself.  That is probably why most people choose to do retreats in rural settings.  There is a literal “stillness vibe” that emanates from the country – the opposite of the “energy vibe” that many feel when they are in a large city. I will never forget my first trip to real rural territory here in New England – I went with my roommate Sarah to her family cabin up near Lake Sunapee.  When I walked onto the backyard porch and lay back in the hammock there – at first the quiet unnerved me a little.  As a city child, it just felt a little unnatural.  But after an hour or so, laying there and relaxing, reading on and off, sometimes just looking out over the meadow – a sense of stillness descended upon me – it was so tangible I could feel the weight of it on me, like a blanket.  It is that still energy that is needed to lose the hold on you of the noisy chaotic energy and allow you to get back to that place where creative energy can break loose and make it back up to your conscious mind.

If you go on retreat – do remember to toss in a bag deep in the back of your suitcase that phone or laptop (or not bring them at all!)  It is important to cut off communication with others so that you can communicate with yourself!  That is not to say that you can’t do a retreat with a group of friends or co-workers, or with your significant other.  In fact, going with others can be very rewarding, once you are back in touch with your creative energy, since it is a great time to brainstorm ideas and to have clear, meaningful discussions.  Just make sure that first, though, you dedicate the time to the cleansing and clearing of your minds so that when you all do reconnect it will be productive.

If you have never done a retreat – I highly recommend one.  Chances are you really need it!  It doesn’t matter if it is a cabin in the woods, a religious retreat, a spa in the countryside, or a secluded beach – just find an environment that supports wellness and peaceful thought and contemplation. If you have done at least one – try to make it a ritual, like doing it once or twice a year.  Frequency should help keep the toxicity of your everyday crazy life from building up too much.  And if you can, try to incorporate into your everyday life some sort of meditative practice or action to help you routinely clear your mind.  It can help keep you grounded, and help keep those creative juices flowing

My Month as a Vegetarian

Well – April is finally over – and my April “intention” of eating as a vegetarian for the month is complete.  I have to say, it was both easier and harder than I thought to accomplish.  The end result is that, going forward, I have broken the meat cycle enough that at least 50% of what I eat will be vegetarian.  But there was a point when I thought this post would be titled “My Month of Eating Cheese Pizza”.

Far and away – the most difficult thing about eating vegetarian is the limited choices you have when not eating at home.  My breakfasts were pretty easy to modify – no sausage on that egg and cheese muffin! – but lunch at the beginning stumped me big time. If I wasn’t going to be eating a lot of salad, my choices eating at the many places around my office looked small.  I had the hummus sandwich and the TBM at Cosi – I did a broccoli and cheddar potato at Wendys (this was when I was getting desperate), and there of course was cheese pizza. And dinner out – well, my nephews came to visit me before Easter, and I ended up eating some strange combinations off the appetizer menu when we ate out (French onion soup and spinach artichoke dip?)  The one thing that saved me (at lunch) was the discovery that the Milk Street Café, across the street from where I worked, was really kinda “vegetarian-in-disguise”. They are kosher – which for them means no meat is served – only veggies and fish. They have a great variety, and once I found this, I ate lunch there every day.  But in general – there really are not a lot of good or interesting options for vegetarians at most restaurants that are not 1) pizza, 2) pasta, or 3) mac and cheese.

Eating dinner at home was the easy part.  I made several great recipes out of my new Ming Tsai cookbook “Simply Ming: One Pot Meals”.  The miso stew was such great comfort food – he was right, miso gives you the feel of meat without the meat.  I found several great recipes online – and cooked several Indian dishes (which had lots of vegetarian options – including my fav Food Network star Aarti’s Lentil recipe of her Mum’s Everyday Red Lentils – very hearty!).  I know have a decent list of vetted “go-to” recipes that I can throw together that do not need meat.  I also realized it was great not needing to worry if I remember to defrost something (a problem I always have with my meat meals – I can be forgetful in the mornings!).

By the end, I was definitely craving some meat.  But I appreciate it much more now!  For the first week of May, I planned 2 meat based meals, one that had meat and seafood, one seafood, and 3 vegetarian. My breakfasts on the weekdays will revert slightly – 3 days no meat, two days with meat. And I will keep doing lunch at the Milk Street Café, eating their veggie options and sometimes seafood, maybe venturing a couple of times a month to have lunch elsewhere (like my favorite treat – Chacarero). But much like January, where going through the exercise of doing yoga everyday has allowed me to continue a routine of yoga on a regular basis where it is most effective for me (on workdays), eating vegetarian for a month helped me discover new recipes and new places to eat, so that as I move forward, I am eating healthy and better overall, and that I have a better balance in my overall diet than before. I encourage everyone to give this a try sometime – hey- you can do anything for just a month!  And you just might be surprised at what you learn.